An Araucana cockerel. The Araucana chicken is listed as Critical on The Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List. (Photo courtesy of The Livestock Conservancy
PITTSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA – Poultry breeders and enthusiasts are key to the 2026 American Poultry Census, and input is needed from those raising heritage and standardbred poultry.
The census, conducted every five years by the American Poultry Association and The Livestock Conservancy, documents rare heritage breeds across the United States. It is fundamental to conservation efforts and to assess the extinction threat levels of endangered varieties of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. Census counts include only breeding animals, as this is the population necessary for breed survival.
Conducting a poultry census is particularly challenging, explains Jeannette Beranger, senior program manager with The Livestock Conservancy, a national non-profit working to conserve more than 170 breeds of endangered agricultural livestock and poultry.
“Unlike many livestock breeds, there is no registry process for purebred or standardbred birds that can be used to indicate breeding population activity. This necessitates a targeted, comprehensive survey conducted every five years, focused on both private and commercial poultry keepers who actively breed birds. Mixed-breed poultry or crosses are not included in these counts,” she says.
This year, the census is also documenting color and comb varieties within breeds, she adds.
“We chose to census APA-recognized large fowl birds and bantam breeds with no large fowl counterpart. Among our goals is to identify older and unique genetics within the poultry community,” she says.
Beranger points out that a few census breeds lack APA recognition but are on The Livestock Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List and are of interest to the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities; these include chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys.
The census will remain open through Aug. 1, and the survey takes an average of six minutes to complete. Personal information will remain confidential unless participants choose to be listed publicly as a resource for their breed or breeds.
The 2026 Poultry Census is made possible through the generous sponsorship of Greenfire Farms. Breeders can submit census information at https://bit.ly/poultry26.
